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Protest In Cross River As Woman Dies During Child Delivery In Government Hospital Over Absence Of Doctor

Protest In Cross River As Woman Dies During Child Delivery In Government Hospital Over Absence Of Doctor
October 23, 2023

The protesting members of the community said the incident was the third under such circumstances in the last few months in the same hospital.

A protest on Sunday rocked the Sankwala community in Obanliku Local Government Area of Cross River State over the death of a middle-aged woman identified as Rebecca during child delivery at a state general hospital.

Rebecca was reportedly attended to by a ward orderly in the hospital on Thursday when the only doctor in the hospital had retired to sleep. 

The protesting members of the community said the incident was the third under such circumstances in the last few months in the same hospital, Daily Trust reports.

However, reacting to the incident, the state Governor, Bassey Otu, in a statement regretted Rebecca’s death and sent condolences to the Paramount Ruler of Obanliku Local Government Area, Amos Item, assuring that such incident would not happen again.

The Governor further granted approval for the mobilisation of manpower to strengthen the ailing service delivery at Sankwala as well as reinvigorate services in government health facilities in other rural areas in the state.

Also, the President of Bassang Association in Obanliku LGA, Mr Basang-Sylvania Anyawho, in a statement said that the alarming and reoccurring cases of mother and child deaths, especially during childbirth at the hospital have become irksome.

Anyawho alleged that the reported mismanagement at the General Hospital in Sankwala is a serious call for concern, calling for immediate intervention by the government, and therefore called for swift intervention to avert another case of emergency where their women may suffer the same fate.